Seattle Municipal Tower, High-rise office building in downtown Seattle, United States

The Seattle Municipal Tower is a 62-story skyscraper at 700 Fifth Avenue, completed in 1990 and rising 220.07 m (722.0 ft). Its main lobby is on floor 4, not floor 1, and the elevators split into lower and upper tiers: to reach floors above 40, visitors transfer at the sky lobby on 40, and floor 62, called "The Tip", needs a private elevator from floor 61 with an encoded badge. The glass cupola at the crest holds elevator equipment, not occupied space.

Proposed in 1981 as the Sixth & Columbia Building by Herman Sarkowsky and Delbert Belfoy, the tower was completed in 1990 as AT&T Gateway Tower and later became KeyBank Tower. The city bought it in early 1996 for $124 million, or $124 per square foot, after two panels found the purchase cheaper than building or renovating. It was renamed Seattle Municipal Tower on May 17, 2004.

The tower's name changed three times: AT&T Gateway Tower, then KeyBank Tower, then Seattle Municipal Tower on May 17, 2004, after the city bought it in early 1996 for $124 million, about $124 per square foot. The city cited two panels, the Capital Finance Review Board and the Citizens Advisory Panel, which found the purchase cheaper than building or renovating.

The main lobby is on floor 4, not the ground floor, and the plaza and tunnel levels are reached only by the parking-garage elevators on floor 4 or by the decorative staircase. To go above floor 40, take an elevator to the sky lobby on 40 and transfer; floor 62, "The Tip", needs a private elevator from floor 61 and an encoded badge. The three restaurants sit on the 6th-floor plaza, and only one has an indoor entrance.

The building straddles a reversible express ramp to Interstate 5, and the 65-story proposal of 1981 would have cantilevered over it, requiring the developer to lease the ramp's air rights from the state transportation department. The glass cupola at the crest is not occupied space: it houses elevator equipment. To reach floor 62, "The Tip", visitors transfer at floor 61 to a private elevator opened with an encoded badge.